Chomp, chomp
I'd noticed that the small tree next to my car port was defoliating. I put it down to the semi-drought and began to water it well.
To be sure I do not know if it is a shrub or a tree. It bears lovely variegated leaves. A few years ago our idiot butchers (landscapers) cut the trunk to the ground, for reasons which even they did not understand. But this hardy planting propagates itself from the roots. In place of one trunk it emerged with eight trunklets.
Despite my watering it is now leafless. I discovered the culprits.
The dark mess on the ground is their droppings.
A neighbour asked if I would buy a spray to destroy the caterpillars. I won't do that on the basis that what is a pest to my tree may well be a feast for birds.
I'll let it be for a while. There is half a chance that it will re-leaf.
This reminded me of the Gypsy Moth caterpillar invasion of 1981 in New England. (See NY Times article below)
There were multi-millions of these chompers, so much so that their droppings sounded like rain - I kid you not.
Millions of trees, deciduous and coniferous were defoliated, but the leaves etc returned before the end of summer. However, given two or three consecutive years of Gypsy Moth invasions the trees become desperately weakened. (I think that the Gypsy moth caterpillars returned in full force to Massachusetts in 2016 and 2017)
https://www.nytimes.com/1981/08/10/nyregion/gypsy-moth-caused-record-losses-in-81-in-northeastern-us.html
To be sure I do not know if it is a shrub or a tree. It bears lovely variegated leaves. A few years ago our idiot butchers (landscapers) cut the trunk to the ground, for reasons which even they did not understand. But this hardy planting propagates itself from the roots. In place of one trunk it emerged with eight trunklets.
Despite my watering it is now leafless. I discovered the culprits.
The dark mess on the ground is their droppings.
A neighbour asked if I would buy a spray to destroy the caterpillars. I won't do that on the basis that what is a pest to my tree may well be a feast for birds.
I'll let it be for a while. There is half a chance that it will re-leaf.
This reminded me of the Gypsy Moth caterpillar invasion of 1981 in New England. (See NY Times article below)
There were multi-millions of these chompers, so much so that their droppings sounded like rain - I kid you not.
Millions of trees, deciduous and coniferous were defoliated, but the leaves etc returned before the end of summer. However, given two or three consecutive years of Gypsy Moth invasions the trees become desperately weakened. (I think that the Gypsy moth caterpillars returned in full force to Massachusetts in 2016 and 2017)
https://www.nytimes.com/1981/08/10/nyregion/gypsy-moth-caused-record-losses-in-81-in-northeastern-us.html
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